Audio Sample
Lawrence Durrell
Balthazar
Read by Nigel Anthony
abridged
The politics of love, the intrigues of desire … love and murder, moved obscurely in the dark corners of Alexandria’s streets and squares, brothels and drawing-rooms – moved like a great congress of eels in the slime of plot and counter-plot…’ In Balthazar, the second volume in Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet, the story and the characters come more clearly into focus. Darley, the reflective Englishman, receives from Balthazar, the pathologist, a mass of notes which attempt to explain what really happened between the tempestuous Justine, her husband Nessim, Clea the artist, Pursewarden the writer; new figures emerge and play key roles. Balthazar, in his ‘Interlinear’, explains and warns.
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3 CDs
Running Time: 3 h 56 m
More product details
ISBN: 978-962-634-046-2 Digital ISBN: 978-962-954-586-4 Cat. no.: NA304612 Download size: 57 MB BISAC: FIC000000 Released: April 2000 -
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Reviews
The four linked novels that comprise English author Lawrence Durrell’s masterpiece, The Alexandria Quartet, are set in Alexandria, Egypt, around the time of WWII. The four novels explore the city’s polyglot society, full of intrigue, mystery and sensuality, telling essentially the same story from different points of view. Justine focuses on the beautiful Jewish wife of a wealthy Copt. Her story is told by Darley, her English lover. In Balthazar, Darley reconsiders and retells the story he told in Justine, using information from a mysterious new character, Balthazar. In Mountolive, as war begins to loom, British Ambassador David Mountolive enters the intrigues of the interwoven community of characters. In Clea, Darley returns to a war-fevered Alexandria as the stories of the many characters move toward conclusion. Narrator Nigel Anthony provides a brilliant reading, keeping the variety of voices – English, French, Egyptian – distinct throughout. He offers a one-man play, conveying the passions, disappointments and triumphs of the complex cast. The classical music interludes that delineate sections of this beautifully produced and packaged set help transport the listener to back-streets of Alexandria.
R.E.K., AudioFile